Norwegian sailors may have been ravaging as early as the 3rd century
Already many centuries before the Viking Age, Norwegian sailors in large ships may have plundered around the North Sea. Remains of large boathouses indicate that they were built for long ships.
TEXT MATS KARLSSON
PUBLISHED 2026-02-03
From the Norwegian West Coast and southward there are large amounts of remains of ancient boathouses, or boathouses. They vary in size and have been dated from around 180 to 540. They are often located in clusters and many are over 20 meters long, some even larger. The largest measures around 40 meters. Such large ships are oversized for local feuds, believes freelance archaeologist and former museum worker Frans-Arne Stylegar.
He believes that the boathouses were part of a naval organization inspired by the naval bases of the Roman Empire. And that they were the origin of plundering expeditions around the North Sea and Skagerrak.
– I mean that you have to see the boathouses in a broader historical context. Maybe you have to ask yourself if the Viking Age didn't start as early as the 3rd century, he tells forskning.no.
May have been inspired by the Romans
Frans-Arne Stylegar has spent several years mapping the boathouses. He has directed particular interest towards Lindesnes at the southern tip of Norway, where the North Sea meets the Skagerrak. There is a concentration of boathouses there, but also traces of an old canal, which he believes was a military facility that gave sailors a back route out to sea in the event of an attack on the site.
This may have been inspired by the Roman naval bases, which Norwegian sailors may have seen when they took service in the Roman Empire's navy. There are similarities with bases in England and France, according to Frans-Arne Stylegar.
In addition, he mentions the Nydamskeppet, which was found in 1863 in a bog in southernmost Denmark and was built in a similar way to the Viking ships. It is clinker-built, meaning that the planks overlap each other, the fore and aft are high and the boat has a side rudder. It is dated to the 320s, and such ships may also have existed in Norway. The only problem is that nothing has been found yet.
"The theory is not unreasonable"
The theory is not unreasonable at all, according to Johan Rönnby, professor of archaeology and director of the Marine Archaeological Research Institute at Södertörn University College.
- The boathouses in Norway have been well known for a long time, but it is an exciting interpretation. There are similar structures in Sweden, but not as many and not as well-known. Perhaps there was a reason to build larger ones in Norway with its topography and more wind, he says.
That there were raids by ship before the Viking Age is also known. Parallels with long-distance seafaring can be found as far back as the Bronze Age.
– The connection to the Roman Empire at that time is also discussed in Sweden, especially when it comes to Öland. People enlisted in the Roman legion and that also had an impact here, says Johan Rönnby.
Norwegian soldiers in battle in Jutland
Another Norwegian archaeologist, Professor Dagfinn Skre at the University of Oslo, writes in a new book that Norwegian soldiers on their way to the Roman Empire may have fought in a battle in eastern Jutland around the year 205. The Battle of Silkeborg is one of the largest known from the Iron Age, and over 15,000 objects have been found in a bog. There are Roman swords, shields, spears, lances and other equipment for soldiers and horses. Some of the weapons have the oldest runes found so far.
But there are also special combs made of reindeer and elk antlers that indicate that the attacking army came from Norway.
The number of finds shows that it was a very large army that attacked. Perhaps it was a fleet of 50 ships, says Dagfinn Skre.
Did the Viking age begin in the 3rd century?
Did the Viking age begin in the 3rd century?
That’s what an archeologist is suggesting at least.